I noticed today that my 06 left rear wheel protrudes 3/4" more beyond the rear fender lip than the right rear wheel. The only mods I have are aftermarket FR500 replica wheels 18x9 (not Ford racing) by AWI. Does anybody know if this is unusual?

Is the axle offset to the left on the Mustang? Or am I looking at something being bent, or a wheel size issue?

Thank you for any input

 

It is the stock panhard bar. If you search for panhard bar you can probably find a lot of posts about this issue. It is most noticable with wider tires and a lowered car. You can remedy it by buying an adjustable panhard bar.

 

Interesting. After going nuts with my measuring tape, I also noticed that the rear fender lip to tire clearance is 3/4 inch larger on the left side than the right. Is this a pre-load to compensate for driver weight? If not, I've got something major wrong with this new vehicle. Thanks for the input.

 

Are you sure it was sitting on perfectly level ground when you measured it?

 

That was my first thought- so I turned the car around and parked it 180 degrees onthe exact same spot and measured it all again. Everything was the same- offset and higher on the left rear.

 

Do you have anything in the trunk... like subs?

 

Many cars are built like that, it just is not often noticed until you install larger wheels. The rear is going to move side-to-side as the suspension goes through its travel. you just have to make sure that you do not have rubbing issues at some point of its movement.

Adjustable panhard bars, adjustable rear lower and upper control arms are available to make any necessary adjustments. I have the Ingalls units in stock and have more Steeda items on the way!

I hope this helps.

Tony D

 

When you say "many cars", are to referring to many different cars (in a general sense), or many cars of the same year, make & model?

A panhard rod might cure the lateral positioning, but why would the car be 3/4 inch jacked up on the left rear suspension?

Is it possible to have a rear suspension spring that is not seated properly (causing it to sit a little high??

ps- I have nothing in the trunk!

 

With the car empty, and on level ground, I measured the length of each rear spring.

The left rear spring is approx 1/2 inch longer than the right rear spring, under static compression. This is why the cars sits about 1/2 inch high on the left rear corner.

Now- Why? Anybody ever heard of a "left and right" rear spring? I haven't.

Do you think it's a defective spring???

Any suspension gurus or Ford factory mechanics out there?

This is driving me nuts!

 

Speaking in a general sense, I have not measured a lot of new Mustangs, yet. I guess it is possible for a spring to be turned and not fully seated. On some cars, the spring pocket has an indentation for the pigtail of the spring to sit in. Not sure if that applies here or not.

Is the opposite front side low to cause the rear to rise on that corner? Have you checked tire pressures to insure that they are the same side to side?

How does the car sit with the driver in place?

Tony D

 

I know on the aftermarket spring kits, there is no designation for side to install the springs, not sure if that applies to the factory springs. Have you measured other cars to see if they indeed are level? They all might be slightly off from level. Remember that these are mass produced vehicles and there are some tolerences.

A spring installed that carries less weight will probably be longer than one that carries more weight, assuming equal spring rates.

Does the car drive as it should? Does it track straight?

Tony D

 

All tire pressures are equal. All wheels and tires are equal. The car does not appear to be sitting low on either side at the front, and measurements confirm this.

The car does have a light steering wheel shimmy at 60-70mph that has not been corrected through repeated balancing and rotating of tires/wheels. The alignment has not been checked by a shop, and neither has the undercarriage.

I wonder now if the hiked-up rear on one side could be causing my steering shimmy to occur.

When I sit in the driver's side, the left side does some down (I'm 195 lbs), but it is still sitting a little high. Weird, huh?

The car is mass-produced, but I cannot believe there is any way that the tolerances could be so far out so as to be obvious to the naked eye when you walk around the vehicle.

Thanks for the input, guys. I wish there was a way to get in touch with a factory rep.